The river Aare is dynamic and constantly in change. Its water is a renewable sought-after source of energy, one of the main resources in this area between Olten and Aarau. The river has shaped its surrounding and the humans have simultaneously cultivated the river. Dams, canals and vast infrastructures were built to extract as much energy as possible. The area around Gösgen became highly regulated and is part of a circuit.
Today, the river and the power production seem exhausted. With climate change glaciers are losing their significance as water storage, fluctuations will increase and weather extremes will occur more often. By the end of this century, the river Aare will only carry half the amount of water in summer and dry out in places. At the same time, the local electricity production will decrease, as the nuclear power plant will be shut down in 2040. From this point on, the lever of the circuit will be switched.
The circuit consists out of the weir, the hydro- and the nuclear power plant, the old river and the canal. The hydro power plant will continue to run and requires a constant amount of water. The weir is closed and opens just in case of high-water level or floods, while smaller seasonal fluctuations are balanced with the existing waterpipe- system of the nuclear power plant. In between, a new biotope is created, consisting of two parts: The dried-out river and the wet river.
Next to the weir, stairs lead down to the old riverbed. This is the entrance to the five-kilometre long rambla (arab. ramla = “sand” or “sandy riverbed”). The stony and sandy landscape extends down to the nuclear power plant. Four to five times a year, this part will be flooded.
After the nuclear power plant is shut down and being dismantled, only the existing pump and parts of the cooling-water-system will remain in place. The excavated pond forms a water storage and habitat for fishes, such as the three meters long catfish. Through the existing underground water pipe system, the overflow of the canal is brought to the pond. Reaching a certain height, the water passively drains into the under part of the river a wetland is created.
Considering the whole history of the river Aare, the mentioned events mark only a very short phase in it. The rigid structures and systems of the circuit are broken up and reorganized. Balancing the increasing fluctuations and diverting them by using the existing infrastructures creates a new form of energy. In times of unsteadiness and energy storms, this biotope generates a shelter, a space for animals, plants and people. The energy migrates once more.
